Vending machine having three-conductor collating circuit

ABSTRACT

In a coin-operated vending machine for automatic ejection of a selected one of assorted commodities in stock therewithin, there are provided a notation converting circuit having a desired number of output terminals successively producing an output signal, a price setting circuit having the same number of output terminals only one of which produces an output signal when a prescribed coin has been dropped, and a merchandise selecting means which produces an output signal when one of its contact pairs has been manually closed. When the aforesaid three output signals are simultaneously impressed to one of several gates which make up a three-condition collating circuit, and output signal is produced therefrom for actuation of a merchandise ejecting means.

United States Patent 1 Nakayasu et al.

VENDING MACHINE HAVING THREE- CONDUCTOR COLLATING CIRCUIT Inventors: Masnkane Nakayasuy 'loshihisa Kosaka, both of Himeji-shi, Japan Assignee: Kabushilri Kaisha Kolruei Seisakusho, Himeji-shi, Hyogo-Ken, Japan Filed: Oct. 21, 1971 Appl. No.1 191,452

ForeignApplication Priority Data Oct. 23, 1970 Japan ..45/93826 US. Cl ..194/10 Int. Cl ..G07f 11/00 Field of Search ..194/10, 1, 13

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1967 ,Abeetal. ..194/10 4 1970 Shirley ..194/10 CONTROL OSCILLATOR 0R GATE Fififp SECTION CIRCUIT SECTION BUTTON [451 Apr. 10, 1973 Primary Examiner--Stanley H, Tollberg AttorneyHolman and Stern [5 7 ABSTRACT In a coin-operated vending machine for automatic ejection of a selected one of assorted commodities in stock therewithin, there are provided a notation convetting circuit having a desired number of output terminals successively producing an output signal, a price setting circuit having the same number of output terminals only one of which produces an output signal when a prescribed coin has been dropped, and a merchandise selecting means which produces an output signal when one of its contact pairs has been manually closed. When the aforesaid three output signals are simultaneously impressed toone of several gates which make up a three-condition collating circuit, and output signal is produced therefrom for actuation of a merchandise ejecting means.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures THEE-CONDITION COLLATING CIRCUIT PAIENIEUAPRIOIBH 3,726,377

SHEET 1 0F 3 OSCILLATOR (CONTROL GATE F I G, l

o NAI NOTATION CONVERTING TI-REE-CONDITION CIRCUIT COLLATING CIRCUIT NAZ MX I Al I -l -z a 4L5 Jl I CLUTCH A2 I J? SECIIOQ I PRICE 51 5 SETTING K I CIRCUIT l r1 I I A5 1 J5 l I A6 I J6 I I I L -I I BNB EIE E+ Y L I P BuTToN SECTION CONVERTING CIRCUIT PRIC SETTING \CIRCUIT NAa TWO COND|TION CLUTCH SECTION COLLATING CIRCU PAIENIED 1 019B 3', 726,377

sum 2 [IF 3 0L F l G. 3

TI-REE-CGIDI'I'ION' NA ICOLLATING CIRCUIT NOTATION O 4 CIRCUIT I I Q-jJ' EEEQ -BIL Lie I M H STORAGE NAZ f CLUTCH FLIP-FLOP M 1: SECTION CIRCUIT BUTTON p z FIG.4

3T CONTROL R P (GATE NOTATION (Q C CONVERTING NAI CIRCUIT I Mx NA4\ O I TWO- D OSCILLATOR NAZ/ /BUTTON (PRICE THREE CONDITION P C ION SETTING COLLATING CRCUIT RCUIT TWO-CONDITION COLLATING CIRCUIT v K CLUTCH SECTION PATENTED APR 1 0 I973 sum 3 or 3 Fl G. 5(A) g lELATloN W Hm I i I l l l I l I l HLn+| v Hpn I u Fl 6. 5(8) OSCILLATION W PULSE l DELAYED W PULSE -:r- I HLn Y X HLn+| Y Fl G. 6 DELAY ;A 'TE CIRCUIT NA NOTATION 0R GATE gg gfi CLUTCH [D] 1 LMX 1 SECTION OSCILLATOR K M l J FL'FFLSP/ Two ccmffin nfi THREE 6%?ION 1 EEII9I'EING CIRCUIT o Al 'lNG COLLATING CIROJIT P CIRCUIT BUTTON SECTIQN VENDING MACHINE HAVING THREE- CONDUCTOR COLLATING CIRCUIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to vending machines, and in particular to a fully automated, electrically operating vending machine which smoothly ejects a commodity selected by the manual closure of one of the contact pairs whichare provided correspondingly to such selectable commodities.

In known vending machines of comparative design, nonagreement has often been caused between a push button or the like depressed by a purchaser for merchandise selection and an article actually produced therefrom, due in great part to some trouble or other in the electrical circuit of the machines. What is worse for the correct operation of the vending machines having several selectable articles, more than one push button is sometimes simultaneously depressed, either accidentally or intentionally. This may be one reason for the short service life, or the frequent repairs, of the automatic vending machines, but the unnecessarily bulky and complicated machines already proposed for the elimination of such defects obviously run counter to the presentdaydemands for simpler, less expensive, but trouble-free ones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a fully automated machine for vending a selected one of almost any desired number of commodities prepared therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of the class referred to, which is of simple and inexpensive construction, but in which the manual closure of a selected one of contact pairs for merchandise selection unfailingly leads to the ejection of a desired commodity, and in which only one commodity is produced even when more than one such contact pair has been closed simultaneously.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of the class referredto, in which the oscillations of a pulse oscillator provided for the operation of its electrical circuit are started by the first coin dropped for the purchase of each desired commodity, so that this oscillator and other circuit components need not be kept always in operative condition.

A further yet object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of the class referred to, so made that precisely a desired commodity is produced irrespective of some delay in the pulses supplied from the oscillator.

According to the present invention, briefly summarized in its broader aspects, there is provided a vending machine comprising a pulse oscillator, a notation converting circuit having a desired number of output terminals which succeedingly and repetitively produce an output signal by being supplied with the pulses from the pulse oscillator, a price setting circuit having output terminals which are equal in number to the output terminals of the notation converting circuit, said price setting circuit producing an output signal from one of its output terminals according to a coin dropped into the vending machine, a merchandise selecting means having contact pairs which are equal in number to the output terminals of the notation converting circuit, the merchandise selecting means also producing an output signal upon closure of one of its contact pairs according to a commodity to be ejected out of the vending machine, a three-condition collating circuit which collates the aforementioned three output signals from the notation converting circuit and the price setting circuit and the merchandise selecting means, and merchandise ejecting means which ejects the desired commodity out of the vending machine according to an agreement signal produced by the three-condition collating circuit.

The above stated and the various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, with reference made to the attached drawings showing some preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing the fundamental scheme of the vending machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the invention based on the fundamental scheme of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the invention also based on the fundamental scheme of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a modified example of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 5(A) and (B) graphically represent the waveforms of some electric signals essential for the operation of the vending machine of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a modified example of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, and first of all to FIG. 1 adapted to describe the fundamental scheme underlying the vending machine of this invention, a pulse oscillator O is connected to a notation converting circuit M X through a control gate NA,. The notation converting circuit M X is provided with a plurality of, six in this particular embodiment, output terminals L to L In step with the pulses supplied from the pulse oscillator, an output signal H,,,, is produced only from one at a time, L,,, of those output terminals, the output signal H being successively and repeatingly produced from the output terminals. This output signal from the notation converting circuit M X is fed into a three-condition collating circuit NA as in the drawing.

There is provided a price setting circuit J shaped to produce an output signal H when a coin or coins dropped by a purchaser reach a predetermined value. The price setting circuit J is provided with output terminals J, to J corresponding to the aforesaid six output terminals of the notation converting circuit M said terminals J to J being connected to the three-condition collating circuit NA as illustrated in the drawing. Similarly connected to the collating circuit NA are contact pairs P, to P of a button section P to be operated by the purchaser for merchandise selection, so that a signal H is supplied to the circuit from the closed one of the contact pairs ll to P An output signal from the three-condition collating circuit NA, is supplied, on the one hand, to a clutch section K for ejection of a desired article out of the vending machine and, on the other hand, to the aforesaid control gate NA, for control of the operation of the notation converting circuit M A more detailed circuit plan of the above described fundamental scheme of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 by way of a first preferred embodiment of the invention. When a coin or coins are dropped into the vending machine, the signal H is produced from the corresponding output terminal J, of the price setting circuit J as aforesaid. By connecting the pulse oscillator O with a coin detecting section, not shown, of known construction, the oscillation of the former can be caused to start by a signal supplied from the latter upon detection of the first coin dropped for the purchase of each commodity. The pulses are thus supplied from the oscillator O to the notation converting circuit M X through the control gate NA,, and the output signal H is successively and repetitively produced from its output terminals L, to L The output signal H thus produced from the notation converting circuit is supplied, on the one hand, to the three-condition collating circuit NA having gates A, to A and on the other hand to a two-condition collating circuit NA consisting of gates A,, to A, provided to the aforesaid clutch section K for merchandise ejection. As the purchaser succeedingly closes a desired one of the contact pairs P, to P by, say, push-button operation, the output signal H from the merchandise-selecting button section P is supplied to the gate A,, of the threecondition collating circuit NA Hence the circuit NA collates the output signal H from the merchandiseselecting button section P, the output signal H from the price setting circuit J, and the output signal H,

' from the notation converting circuit M Only when all the input conditions have been met, an agreement signal is produced from the gate A of the three-condition collating circuit NA The thus-produced agreement signal is supplied to a storage flip-flop circuit M hereinafter to be described in detail. The storage circuit so energized supplied its output signal, on the one hand, to the control gate NA, to stop the operation of the notation converting circuit M and, on the other hand, to the two-condition collating circuit NA,, where the output signal from the storage circuit is collated with the then-stopped output signal from the terminal L,, of the notation converting circuit M An agreement signal is produced from the gate A, of the two-condition collating circuit in which the above two input conditions have been met, and now the ejection of a desired article out of the vending machine is carried into effect in a manner known already. The outputs from the collating circuit NA are also fed through rectifier elements Da back to the output terminals J, to J, of the price setting circuit J for further processing operation.

Another example of the vending machine of the present invention, similarly based on the fundamental scheme of FIG. 1, is shown in FIG. 3, in which the reference characters seen also in FIGS. 1 and 2 are used to designate like circuit elements. When a signal produced by the first coin dropped by the purchaser is supplied as aforesaid, the pulse oscillator starts oscillation and supplies its pulses to the notation converting circuit M x through the control gate NA,. This notation converting circuit operates like that described already in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, with its output terminals L, to L connected to the three-condition collating circuit NA In addition to these output terminals of the notation converting circuit, the output terminals J, to J, of the price setting circuit J and the contact pairs P, to P of the button section P for merchandise selection are also connected correspondingly to the threecondition collating circuit NA Upon agreement of the three signals supplied to the three-condition collating circuit from the notation converting circuit M the price setting circuit J and the button section P, the collating circuit produces the aforementioned agreement signal thereby to operate the corresponding one of storage flip-flop circuits M, to M,,.

An output signal from the storage circuit M,, is supplied to: (1) the control gate NA, via an OR gate for control of the operation of the notation converting circuit, (2) the clutch section K for ejection of a desired article out of the vending machine, and (3) the output terminal J,, of the price setting circuit J via a one-way circuit Da such as a rectifier element for further processing operation.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in order to give more careful consideration to the operation of the embodiment illustrated therein, let it be supposed that, following the start of oscillation of the pulse oscillator O by the first coin dropped by the purchaser, an output signal is produced from the gate A,, of the three-condition collating circuit NA at or near the termination of the output signal H from the notation converting circuit M that is, immediately before transition from the output signal H to an output signal H While the storage circuit M is thus operated by the output signal I-I via the gate An, it is likely that the notation converting circuit M is not stopped by the output signal then produced from the storage circuit but by that produced upon application of the ensuing signal H with the possible result that an article corresponding to that signal I-I is produced out of the vending machine. In order to prevent such erroneous operation, the notation converting circuit must be stopped in exact accordance with an agreement signal impressed to the storage circuit M. This purpose is accomplished by the circuit configuration of FIG. 4, in which a delay circuit D and an additional two-condition collating circuit NA are newly incorporated in addition to the circuit elements shown and described in the foregoing. Described hereinbelow, with reference to FIG. 5, is the operation of this circuit configuration of FIG. 4 including the newly incorporated circuits D and NA In case an agreement signal from the three-condition collating circuit NA is supplied to the storage circuit M via the two-condition collating circuit NA only when it agrees in waveform with the pulses produced from the pulse oscillator O, the length of time during which the storage circuit M is operated by the agreement signal is substantially halved, as indicated by the hatchings in FIG. 5(A). If now some delay is taken into account in the operations of the electrical circuits, the portions indicated by the letter X in FIG. 5(B) are likely to cause the aforementioned erroneous operation. This trouble is overcome by the provision of a delay circuit D between the pulse oscillator 0 and the two-condition collating circuit NA If, referring to FIG. 5(8), 02 represents the delay of the delayed pulse, caused by the operation of the electrical circuits, and B the delay caused by the delay circuit D, a must be s B in order to operate the storage circuit M only by the portions Y. Only with this condition satisfied, the unfailing operation of this vending machine is ensured. It will be readily understood that a similar possible trouble which may occur in the second embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3 is also eliminable by the provision of a delay circuit D and a two-condition collating circuit NA, as in the block diagram ofFIG. 6. v g

No less accurate operation is realizable in the circuit configurations of both FIGS. 2 and 3 without provision of the aforesaid delay circuit D and two-condition collating circuit NA. if the button section P for merchandise selection and the pulse oscillator O are interconnected. In this manner, the operation of the notation converting circuit M x can be initiated either simultane ously with or slightly later than the production of an output signal from the button section P.

Although some preferred forms of the vending machine of the present invention have been shown and described in the foregoing, it will be easy for those in the art to devise many modifications thereof.

We claim:

1. A vending machine comprising a pulse oscillator, a notation converting circuit having a desired number of output terminals which succeedingly and repetitively produce an output signal by being supplied with pulses from said pulse oscillator, a price setting circuit having output terminals which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, said price setting circuit producing an output signal from one of its output terminals according to a coin dropped into the vending machine, a merchandise selecting meanshaving contact pairs which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, said merchandise selecting means producing an.

output signal upon closure of one of said contact pairs according to a commodity to be ejected out of the vending machine, a three-condition collating circuit which collates the output signals supplied from said notation converting circuit, said price setting circuit, and said merchandise selecting means, and merchandise ejecting means which ejects the desired commodity out of the vending machine according to an agreement signal produced by said three-condition collating circuit.

2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the oscillation of said pulse oscillator is initiated by the first coin dropped into the vending machine for the purchase of each desired commodity.

3. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said three-condition collating circuit includes gates which are equal in number to the output terminals of "said notation converting circuit, each of said gates having three inputs to which are respectively connected the corresponding output terminals of said notation converting circuit and said price setting circuit and the corresponding one of the contact pairs of said merchandise selecting means. 1

4. A vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a control gate connected between said pulse oscillatorand said notation convertingnmeans and a storage circuit connected between said ree-condition collating circuit and said control gate, said storage circuit producing an output signal when applied with said agreement signal in order to stop the operation of said notation converting circuit via said control gate and to actuate said merchandise ejecting means.

5. A vending machine according to claim 4, wherein said merchandise ejecting means includes a two-condition collating circuit which collates the output signals supplied from said storage circuit and from one of the output terminals of said notation converting circuit and which produces an agreement signal for ejection of the desired commodity.

6. A vending machine according to claim 5, wherein said two-condition collating circuit includes gates which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, each of said gates having two inputs to which are respectively connected the output of said storage circuit and the corresponding output'terminal of said notation converting circuit.

7. A vending machine according to claim 5, further comprising a second two-condition collating circuit connected between said three-condition collating circuit and said storage circuit, and a delay circuit connected between said pulse oscillator and said second two-condition collating circuit, said second two-condition collating circuit permitting the application of said agreement signal from said three-condition collating circuit to said storage circuit only when simultaneously impressed with delayed pulses supplied from said pulse oscillator via said delay circuit.

8. A vending machine according to claim 3, further comprising a plurality of storage circuits connected respectively between said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and said merchandise ejecting means, a control gate connected between said pulse oscillator and said notation converting means, and an OR gate the inputs of which are respectively connected to the outputs of said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and the output of which is connected to said control gate, the corresponding one of said storage circuits producing an output signal when applied with said agreement signal in order to actuate said merchandise ejecting means and to stop the operation of said notation converting circuit via said OR gate and said control gate.

9. A vending machine according to claim further comprising two-condition collating circuits connected respectively between said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and said storage circuits, and a delay circuit connected between said pulse oscillator and said two-condition collating circuits, each of said two-condition collating circuits permitting the application of said agreement signal from one of said gates to the corresponding one of said storage circuits only when simultaneously impressed with delayed pulses supplied from said pulse oscillator via said delay circuit. 

1. A vending machine comprising a pulse oscillator, a notation converting circuit having a desired number of output terminals which succeedingly and repetitively produce an output signal by being supplied with pulses from said pulse oscillator, a price setting circuit having output terminals which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, said price setting circuit producing an output signal from one of its output terminals according to a coin dropped into the vending machine, a merchandise selecting means having contact pairs which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, said merchandise selecting means producing an output signal upon closure of one of said contact pairs according to a commodity to be ejected out of the vending machine, a threecondition collating circuit which collates the output signals supplied from said notation converting circuit, said price setting circuit, and said merchandise selecting means, and merchandise ejecting means which ejects the desired commodity out of the vending machine according to an agreement signal produced by said three-condition collating circuit.
 2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the oscillation of said pulse oscillator is initiated by the first coin dropped into the vending machine for the purchase of each desired commodity.
 3. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said three-condition collating circuit includes gates which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, each of said gates having three inputs to which are respectively connected the corresponding output terminals of said notation converting circuit and said price setting circuit and the corresponding one of the contact pairs of said merchandise selecting means.
 4. A vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a control gate connected between said pulse oscillator and said notation converting means and a storage circuit connected between said three-condition collating circuit and said control gate, said storage circuit producing an output signal when applied with said agreement signal in order to stop the operation of said notation converting circuit via said control gate and to actuate said merchandise ejecting means.
 5. A vending machine according to claim 4, wherein said merchandise ejecting means includes a two-condition collating circuit which collates the output signals supplied from said storage circuit and from one of the output terminals of said notation converting circuit and which produces an agreement signal for ejection of the desired commodity.
 6. A vending machine according to claim 5, wherein said two-condition collating circuit includes gates which are equal in number to the output terminals of said notation converting circuit, each of said gates having two inputs to which are respectively connected the output of said storage circuit and the corresponding output terminal of said notation converting circuit.
 7. A vending machine according to claim 5, further comprising a second two-condition collating circuit connected between said three-condition collating circuit and said storage circuit, and a delay circuit connected between said pulse oscillator and said second two-condition collating circuit, said seCond two-condition collating circuit permitting the application of said agreement signal from said three-condition collating circuit to said storage circuit only when simultaneously impressed with delayed pulses supplied from said pulse oscillator via said delay circuit.
 8. A vending machine according to claim 3, further comprising a plurality of storage circuits connected respectively between said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and said merchandise ejecting means, a control gate connected between said pulse oscillator and said notation converting means, and an OR gate the inputs of which are respectively connected to the outputs of said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and the output of which is connected to said control gate, the corresponding one of said storage circuits producing an output signal when applied with said agreement signal in order to actuate said merchandise ejecting means and to stop the operation of said notation converting circuit via said OR gate and said control gate.
 9. A vending machine according to claim 8, further comprising two-condition collating circuits connected respectively between said gates of said three-condition collating circuit and said storage circuits, and a delay circuit connected between said pulse oscillator and said two-condition collating circuits, each of said two-condition collating circuits permitting the application of said agreement signal from one of said gates to the corresponding one of said storage circuits only when simultaneously impressed with delayed pulses supplied from said pulse oscillator via said delay circuit. 